Monday, October 11, 2010

Hardly likely to scare your average villain

In one of those stories that needs to be read twice just to double check the enormous horror comes this,

Sicknote WPC: 'Hating the boss is a disability'Some police officers on sick leave hate their bosses so much it should be considered a disability, an employment tribunal heard.

I thought I had heard of every disability but this is a new one on me.Being a police officer is a serious job, and one that requires a certain attitude. One of service and duty mostly, and one of strict demarcation and direct lines of control.

What this looks like is the conflation of an utterly unsuited officer and a training and recruitment system that is broken down. It is also possible that the senior ranks at the Northumberland force leave something to be desired, but really, can you believe this?

But Northumbria Police solicitor Nicholas Wirz said: ‘She goes as far as to say she couldn’t even perform administrative tasks because of her enmity towards Northumbria Police.’He also claimed a number of officers ‘lost belief’ while on sick leave. ‘Something has happened that makes them question or challenge their own role as a constable. I think that the nature of the job makes it very difficult for someone who has lost belief in an organisation to take orders and get themselves in dangerous situations, you can see why it’s hard for them to function well.‘PC Doyle is a case in point. She was clearly struggling, she was clearly unwell.’In 2001, a doctor said the constable was permanently disabled and could not perform police duties.As well as the bad back, she was left vulnerable to anxiety after being attacked while making an arrest and she was signed off duty and received enhanced pension rights.